Will political ads end after Election Day? What to know about how long they can run
Political ads have been a constant and repetitive fixture on television leading up to Election Day.
It may cause you to wonder, is there a date that these election-related commercials will stop?
According to data from the ad-tracking company AdImpact, political advertisements totaled slightly under $1 billion in the past week alone.
Here’s what federal law says about the timeline for political ads and when you can expect them to end.
How long are political ads supposed to run?
There is no deadline for when election ads must end, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Neither the Federal Elections Campaign Act of 1971 nor any other FEC regulations provide an end date for political advertisement broadcasting.
According to the Federal Communications Commission, even if TV stations wanted to stop running political ads, they could not legally do so.
FCC rules specifically state, “Broadcast stations are prohibited from censoring or rejecting political ads that are paid for and sponsored by legally qualified candidates.”
Can companies refuse to run video political ads?
Private companies like YouTube, cable news, and social media can refuse certain commercials under the First Amendment.
The Supreme Court noted this in its 1973 ruling in CBS vs. Democratic National Committee, where it declined to apply the FCC’s “Fairness Doctrine” to broadcast advertising.
CNN exercised this right in 2019 when it rejected two advertisements from the Trump campaign, citing inaccuracies.
It later accepted a third ad, which met its commercial clearance standards.
This story was originally published November 5, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
